Starbucks Opening in Mumbai

09 Oct Starbucks Opening in Mumbai

Seattle-based international coffee and coffeehouse chain will soon open its first store in India by the end of the month. Located in Mumbai’s upscale Horniman Circle neighborhood, the store will feature coffee sourced locally, through an agreement with Tata Coffee Ltd. Operating through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, known as Tata Starbucks Ltd., Starbucks aims to open 50 branches in India by year’s end.

“We’re going to move as fast as possible in opening as many stores as we can so long as we are successful and so long as we are embraced by the Indian consumers,” says John Culver, president of Starbucks China and Asia Pacific.

Although long known as the nation of tea drinkers, despite India’s rich coffee-producing region in the south, India is now embracing the coffee house culture with a vengeance. Due to the influence of Western culture and fashionable international brands such as Starbucks, India’s cafe market has grown from 700 stores in 2007 to 1,600 in 2011, with an expected growth of 30 percent per year. Link, Link